The firm will not exhibit at Ipex 2014 – or at any of the major industry shows currently on the calendar, with the exception of Drupa.

Chairman Benny Landa told PrintWeek that the business was prioritising its activities on getting its presses ready for customer shipment:  "You have to really target what you want to achieve and for us, there’s only one objective which is meeting our customers’ expectations on delivery of this product, so that’s what we’re focusing on.

"We have an extraordinary situation, where our company starts out with such a huge backlog. Our challenge is to meet it and to meet the customer requirements and do it on time," Landa stated. "All our energy, resource and focus are on that one thing."

Landa is in a unique situation, with more than 400 orders in hand for the Nanographic printing presses it unveiled at Drupa. Nanography involves a variant of inkjet printing, using an intermediate heated blanket belt rather than jetting directly onto the printing substrate.

"The last thing we need to do right now is to increase our order book. We need to deliver product," Landa added. "We don’t want people to wait for years for these machines. It doesn’t make sense to increase the backlog at this time."

The Landa decision is not connected to other recent Ipex withdrawals, including Xerox.

PrintWeek understands that the news did not come as a huge surprise to owner Informa Exhibitions. PrintWeek revealed Landa was reviewing its participation in the show more than six months ago.

Event director Trevor Crawford said: "We’ve been very transparent with all the exhibitors and we’ve been very clear for months about the fact that Landa, while it was on the floorplan, had not confirmed."

Landa had had a provisional space of some 1,600sqm alongside Screen in the digital halls.

PrintWeek also quizzed Landa on whether not being at Ipex would fuel scepticism among those who believe the Nanography presses are "vapourware" and will never ship.

He responded: "Oh really? Is it evidence that HP and Heidelberg and Agfa and Xerox are also not going to ship product? There’s nothing we can do about cynicism. People should be sceptical and say ‘hey until I see it I won’t believe it’ that’s fine. It doesn’t trouble me.

"I learned a long time ago that you can’t let the tail wag the dog. You can’t decide your business actions on what certain individuals in the market say, or what the stock price does if you’re a public company. That should not drive your business decisions. I think we’re doing exactly the right thing right now," he added.

Landa will have a presence at Ipex 2014 in one respect, as Benny Landa will be speaking at the Global Print Summit that runs alongside the show.

Landa explained that the business had no plans to exhibit at any of the industry’s major upcoming events, with the exception of Drupa. The company will not have a stand at China Print, which takes place in May.

"It doesn’t make sense for us. People expect to place orders at a show, and that’s not our objective at the moment. We have activity in China and people dealing with our Chinese customers," he said. "There’s a difference between supporting your customers and promoting new business. We’re not in the mode right now of promoting new business."

Landa had previously come out in favour of Drupa moving to a three-year cycle, and he reiterated his view that the future role of trade shows in the industry must change.

"As digital products become larger and higher-end, the number of target customers becomes much more focused. For a €10,000 device it’s one thing. For a product that sells for millions of euros, most of your potential customers you know. You don’t need to go to trade shows to develop those relationships," he said.

"I was in the minority in favour of changing the date of Drupa. I thought one global show every three years was better than every two years. It didn’t happen this time but I think it will end up there."